Host: Harvard Center for African Studies Africa Office
Dates: November 03 and 04, 2022 | Time: 2:00 PM SAST / 8:00 AM EST
Format: Virtual
Event Description:
The Africa Office of Harvard University Center for African Studies (CAS) will convene a two-day virtual symposium on Thursday, Nov 03 and Friday, Nov 04, 2022. Titled Partnerships in STE(A)M Innovation and Future Africa Symposium, this symposium will provide a platform to highlight ongoing Harvard-funded and CAS supported STE(A)M research led by Harvard faculty and their Africa-based collaborators; survey findings of the Africa Research, Implementation Science, and Education (ARISE) Network researchers; and feature a roundtable discussion on digitization of African Languages. CAS aims to broaden knowledge about Africa and bring African perspectives to bear on the scholarship of the Harvard community and beyond. Attendees of the symposium will have an opportunity to engage with researchers and contribute to their ongoing research projects.
Symposium Objectives:
In vast efforts to tackle a global pandemic, Africa demonstrated that it has capacity to carry out research to address its problems and to contribute scientific solutions to broader global challenges. Research carried out locally in Africa, coupled with international collaborations, provides actionable and sustainable solutions for the continent. The World Bank has advocated that the “economic and social prosperity of countries depend on the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).” The symposium will feature research projects that aim to provide for a deeper understanding of problems in the African context and seek new discoveries to solve challenges and advance future development.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges for healthcare, food security, and education, and the global response effort has relied on STEM advancements from biomedicine and the use virtual technology, demonstrating the increased importance of STEM-based solutions to combat novel challenges. Research carried out through the Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund and through partnerships like the ARISE Network and Botswana Harvard Partnership contribute directly to solutions that advance well-being, address the challenges of a changing climate, and promote education access for all in Africa.
While gaining increased attention, the unquestionable value of arts and humanities in STEM, or STE(A)M, requires broader exploration for a deepened understanding. The symposium will highlight some of the outstanding research work done in Africa and in the diaspora to digitize African languages. Featured works will demonstrate how technology could be a solution to preserving African languages in danger of extinction and to using African languages to impact delivery of services including in healthcare, immigration, legal processes, and learning. The symposium will also highlight ongoing efforts to advance STE(A)M education in Africa.
Over two days, the second annual Partnerships in STE(A)M Innovation and Future Africa Symposium will explore the following thematic areas: (i) Nutrition and Food Insecurity; (ii) Healthcare Delivery; (iii) Effects of COVID-19 on the progress made on other disease epidemics, and (iv) Digitization of African Languages and (iv) The importance of integration of Arts in STEM education.
ARISE Network Survey Presentation
9:00am ET/ 3:00pm SAST: COVID-19 Survey
• Dr. Sulemana Watara Abubakari , Principal Research Fellow, Kintampo Health Research Centre
• Dr. Emily R. Smith , Assistant Professor, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University
• Moderator: Dr. Mary Mwanyika-Sando, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Academy for Public Health
11am ET/5:00pm SAST: Scaling-Up High-Impact Micronutrient Supplementation Interventions to Improve Adolescents’ Nutrition and Health in Tanzania and Burkina Faso
• Dr. Millogo Ourohiré, Principal Research Fellow, Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC)
• Dr. Ilana Cliffer, Doctoral Candidate, Food and Nutrition Policy and Programs Division, Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
• Moderator: Dr. Mary Mwanyika-Sando, Chief Executive Officer of Africa Academy for Public Health
Motsepe Research Fund Supported Research Presentation
11:30am ET / 5:30pm SAST: Digital Interventions to Address Malnutrition and Food Insecurity Among Adolescents in Tanzania
• Dr. Sachin Shinde, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Harvard T H School of Public Health, USA
• Dr. Masha Yussuf, Project Coordinator, Africa Academy for Public Health
• Moderator: Prof. Angela Unna Chukwu, Professor & Head of Biostatistics Unit, Department of Statistics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Download 2022_STEAM Concept and Agenda.pdf (147.58 KB)